Alan Richards
Alan Richards A young man from a world of warriors, Alan is a skilled martial artist, having developed his own personal fighting style over many years and travels. Mighty in body and spirit, yet not the most intelligent of men. After his transformation into an Olympian, he now answers to the name 'Zeus'. History In His Own World Alan was raised in a crime-filled city, where a powerful gang and it's mysterious leader held the very populace hostage. Alan's father, Kevin "Rich" Richards, was a professional bowler, who had opened his own, budding bowling alley. However, the gang demanded "protection" money, and when he was unable to pay, the gang wrecked the bowling alley, in front of young Alan. Kevin was frightened, and ashamed. Alan, however, took this event as a challenge, and it filled the young boy with resolve. The next time those men came to the alley, Alan attacked them with bowling pins. The boy was beaten senseless, and the alley again smashed up, but Alan refused to back down. Kevin, knowing the boy was going to get into trouble, burned down the bowling alley, and with the insurance money, sent the boy to a school far off, in Japan, where he would be safe. Alan would soon find himself in a strange new setting, however, he quickly bonded with a few close friends, and though he was not the most intelligent lad, he worked hard to prove himself in school. However, his heart was always with his father, and his home, and as he continued his stay in Japan, he quickly found an interest in martial arts. He watched fight, after fight, after fight. He would bug martial arts teachers until they caved, and taught him. He was not naturally strong, or fast, nor did he learn at any incredible pace, but he forced himself to learn, improved his body through any measure he could, and even learned how to access and manipuate his chi to certain degrees. He was finally ready to return home, to come save his father and his city from the darkness that overwhelmed it... ... When he received word that his father had died, not from the gang that tormented him in his mind for so long, but instead his father's cigarette habit. Alan was broken... And felt competely alone. He fell for a girl named Misako, aka "Putter", and though they formed a strong relationship, it was soon strained by Alan's constant need for attention. They slowly became more and more distant... ... And she left him for another man. Alan, heartbroken, dealt with this problem the way he had taught himself: He found the man and beat him half to death with his bare hands. Misako attempted to stop them, and attempted to pull him off of her new boyfriend, when she eventually brought her signature golf club against the back of his head. Meeting Zakk, coming to Koniki The aftermath of this situation was observed by Zakk Shiro, who had found himself in Alan's world searching for a false lead left by Dante Delacroix. He felt sorry for the poor boy, and seeing his situation was already terrible, and about to get a lot worse, he took the boy in. However, even after getting Alan's head wound healed, he was not the same. His mind was still damaged by the event, leaving him good at little that did not involve combat or bowling. Zakk became like a father to Alan in the intermediate time, caring for the boy and attempting to expediate his recovery. However, Alan's recovery would be slow. Unable to express himself like he would wish to through verbal or nonverbal communication, the boy took up painting, quickly becoming quite skilled in it. However, Zakk felt worried about introducing him to anyone from Nexus City, and kept the boy at his house until he found a healthier environment for his recovery. Zakk found this in the Clearing, and slowly his recovery began. Here, he met Cecille, and quickly fell for her. They became friends, and her company helped give Alan a comforting hand to help in his recovery, however, she would not reciprocate his feelings. After a failed battle with her love, Rygaars, Alan left for the city, to move in with Zakk. Here he would be introduced to Pound the Dog, and through their shared love of martial arts, they quickly bonded and became fast friends. Alan and Pound would eventually open up their own dojo, and he slowly repaired his relationship with Cecille, who was also known as the super hero Fang. He would assist in teaching whomever came to him, however, the dojo was never truly successful, and after a freak fire (Read: Pound attempting to use the stove), the dojo caught fire, leaving Alan and Pound without a place to stay or a way of obtaining income. Instead of, however, simply getting jobs and giving up their dreams of martial arts mastery, they instead left for the Forest, and began to train in the wilderness. Return to South City Years later, Alan returned to South City with Pound, ready to open a new dojo. However, Alan would be sidetracked by the arrival of a new Fang. She would introduce herself to him as Siann, the daughter of Cecille. Alan leaped at the chance to get to know her, to meet her, and their relationship advanced quite quickly. Alan adopted the super hero persona 'Mr. 300' to join Fang in her super heroic crusade, and helped her wherever he could. However, though their relationship continued to be strong, Alan would disappear at times, the fighter in him not settled, going to underground fight clubs to sate his thirst for combat. Olympus It was there the boy was captured by an unknown force. When Zakk Shiro temporarily returned to South City, Siann and Dante met with him, and they discussed Alan, where he could be, and what could have happened to him. It was then Siann dropped the knowledge that she had not exactly been faithful to Alan to Zakk. Little did they know, Alan's captor had bugged Zakk, and soon after, Fang came across a brainwashed Alan. After a short battle, she seemed to be getting to Alan, when a small droid appeared and repeated Siann's statement, causing Alan to react violently. Alan quickly escaped, back to his captor... And when he had returned, he was very little like his original self. Having been changed, he now wielded the power of lightning and called himself "Zeus". He came into battle with Zoe, with Damien Deschain and Fang quickly joining alongside her. However, Alan revealed that if he suffered too much damage, he would explode in a force of energy that would being catastrophic to the apartments they were nearby. Alan and the three would do battle, with Alan causing heavy damage to all three combatants, however, he too would receive severe wounds. When it was stated that another, fresh combatant would join the three, he fled. Personality Alan is hard working, positive, and helpful, however, he is socially awkward in most situations. His loves in life are, in order, Siann, Fighting, Bowling, 80's sport movie themes, and painting. He despises killing, and is a terrible liar, however, when pushed, he has a darker side, being a bit obsessive and keeping a switchblade in his shoe in case it is ever needed. He also has some trust issues, however, these have mostly faded by this time. When in his "Zeus" persona, Alan is loud, boisterous, and cutting. His words speak of bringing all who he sees to perfection, to join "The Hive", however, even seeing Siann causes him to lose direction, his words coming out spiteful and full of venom. He seems to sincerely want to help in this state... However, his help is very much not wanted. As he has stated, "You need to be broken, to be rebuilt stronger." Appearance Alan wears a red and black bowler's outfit with the words "Richards Bowling" on the back for most of his appearances. His shoes are custom made bowling shoes, and he always keeps his ball bag slung over his shoulder. He is 5'10 and thin, yet years of training have left his body in perfect physical condition. His hair is red, short and spiked, with green eyes. In his Mr. 300 persona, he reverses the colors, and adds a pair of fingerless gloves and a bandana-mask that covers the top of his face. On the right breast is a stylized logo of his name, his collar is longer and put up, and he wears shoulder, elbow, and knee pads. Since his transformation into Zeus, Alan's hair is now a luminescent gold, with lightning occasionally jumping from one strand to another. He wears a skintight, golden body suit. Fighting Style Alan's fighting style involves quick, powerful strikes, being mostly influenced by Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and Muai Thai. However, his fighting style is mostly freely-flowing, instead of learning and copying moves specifically, he instead learns why certain attacks are effective and takes his own spin on it. He can add extra force by using his chi to increase an attack's speed and power, but this exhausts him more quickly. He has also developed a set of signature "special attacks" that he will use frequently. These include: Ten Pin Shuffle: Alan darts forward, and strikes the enemy 9 times in a pyramid pattern, leaving them stunned. He'd then deliver a final, powerful punch to their chest, usually sending them flying. Pinhead: Alan reaches into his bowling bag and pulls out 1 to 3 bowling pins, tossing them at the enemy. Approaching Palm: Alan darts forward, ducking, before quickly swinging his arm low and raising it as a rising strike, hopefully striking the enemy in the jaw with a large amount of power. The Perfect Game: One of Alan's 2 "Super Attacks", Alan delivers 299 lightning quick but not especially damaging strikes to the enemy's chest, hoping to leave the enemy stunned. He'd then deliver a powerful right the enemy's jaw, hopefully sending them careening away. The Caveman: His second "Super Attack", Alan pulls out his bowling ball and and focuses his chi into it. He then reels back, and throws the ball with all the force he can muster, however, keeping his grip on the ball. He and the ball both go flying at the enemy, spiraling at them. If the strike hits the enemy, it will most likely finish them. If it does not, Alan will most likely go flying into some wall. As Zeus As Zeus, Alan is a living battery. He can absorb electricity and manipulate it into different forms, shaping crude weapons, channeling it through his body, or throwing thunder bolts. He also has control over the weather to a degree: though he cannot overrule anyone else's control over the weather, if the weather is naturally occurring, it can quickly become a thunderstorm if he wills it. This is needed as Zeus's main way of recharging himself is by drawing lightning to him. However, there are some drawback to this. If he absorbs too much energy, he can become unstable, and will eventually explode in a mass of electricity. To prevent this, he wears a containment suit, which allows him to safely manipulate much more electricity, however, if it is heavily damage, he will explode. He can also use electricity to charge his body, increasing his stamina, however this will not repair any damage done to him. Also, his amount of electricity in his body directly correlates to how charged he is, meaning if he is somehow drained of electricity he will have low to no energy. Trivia * Alan's scent tends to be a combination of paint, sports deodorant, talcum powder and bowling alley. In his Zeus persona, he smells burnt. * When forced to kill diseased 'zombies' to protect himself and Siann, he rose to the challenge. However, after the combat, he quickly broke down into tears and did not stop crying until the next morning. * Alan can not bring himself to go all out in a friendly battle, which often leads to him being beaten. * Alan once punched a car until it exploded. Category:Characters Category:Alriik's